Buying a laptop for college

Suaimhneach

I was told that mac is the best type of laptop to get. I need it for college assignements and whatnot.

The laptop has to be ethernet compatible.

I am looking for general recommendations, so if this is in the wrong forum, feel free to move it.

ZENER

There not cheap but the battery life is excellent, my iBook can keep huffin 'n puffin for over 5 hours at a time.

Pretty much anything you can do on windows you can do on the mac including networking. If there's a specific area you are concerned about just ask - there are a lot of long time mac users here who can put ye right.

ZENER

RicardoSmith

Check that theres no software you'll need at college that is PC only. I'm thinking here of software development stuff or CAD packages etc. Depends what your course is. If Games are an issues just be aware that theres less games for the Mac than there is for the PC. But most of the most popular games are available for the MAc aswell.

While I love Macs theres software and games that I want/need that I can only get on the PC.AutoCad, 3D Max, Visual Basic, VBA, .Net and windows itself. IL2FB, Lomac, Operation Flash Point, Shogun, etc.

However it maybe that theres nothing on the PC side that you need. Then theres really no problem going with a Mac. I did hear they had some problem with a lot of failures on the powerbooks screens. It was mentioned on the The Register or theInquirer I can't remember which. YOu might want to check that out.

jank

ibooks in my experience seem to crash alot. If your doing mulitmedia and stuff then go for it but for the same price you can get a **** hot laptop

if your doing anything related to Computer Science then avoid it at all costs.
the ibook i was using couldnt even ping another computer i was in shock:eek: (there was some app there but it never worked so i had to download a prog called macwatcher which worked fine)

also any hardware upgrades ie wireless cards or floppys drives you will have to pay through the nose for and as for repairs be prepared to be ripped off! apple seem to add 100% charge because they are apple

if i had 1,500 i could get
this which is ok

or this isbetter
bigger screen and u get a dvd-rw wireless card built in (one for a ibook will cost ya 120 or so) double the memory and a free gift

tis up to u if you want to be fashionable get the ibook for everything else get the dell (or something similar)

ZENER

JesJes can you give us some idea what you will use the mac for. Ricardosmith above is spot on about some of the higher end 3D and AutoCAD stuff but there are alternatives in some cases.

Have you used a mac before?

ZENER

DannyD

New Apple laptops released today.

ZENER

New Apple laptops released today.

Drooool !!!!

Nice to see Airport and BT as standard. Improved specs and lower prices - excellent - what more could you ask !

ZENER

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by ZENER
JesJes can you give us some idea what you will use the mac for. Ricardosmith above is spot on about some of the higher end 3D and AutoCAD stuff but there are alternatives in some cases.

Have you used a mac before?

ZENER

The point is if you need specific apps no alternative will suffice. You have to be aware of situations where that can arise.

ZENER

The point is if you need specific apps no alternative will suffice. You have to be aware of situations where that can arise.

Agreed, sorry I wasn't suggesting there were alternatives to AutoCAD etc, but in the majority of cases there are apps on the Mac that will easily perform as well as their PC equivalents . . though I've yet to find a Cobol compiler

Oh and don't even bother suggesting VirtualPC for any of the afore mentioned apps - AutoCAD etc !

ZENER

RicardoSmith

Of course theres some Mac apps that you can't get on the PC either.

patto_chan

Don't forget if you're a registered student at a 3rd level institution you can get an educational discount at the Apple Store. 100 to 200 Euros off depending on model of laptop. Not to be sneezed at.
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/IrlInd

ZENER

Quite true ! Every penny (cent) counts eh ?!

ZENER

diarmy

as a non mac user, but having a wandering eye when I'm in computer shops, there's this product called "Microsoft Virtual Desktop for MAC". Apparently, it installed WINXP (you have to have the OS disc) over MAC and runs inside OSx. I guess, you can run all PC Games and Software through it. I saw this in Compustore Galway, so I'm sure it exists worldwide.

Might solve the SW issue. On the other hand, as a Uni Student, having a laptop is great. But the majority of stuff in college is PC based. For Engineering students, CAD etc is used and they're notorious for using ancient software (like fortran etc.). So for that purpose, making your mac compatible can be costly and a nuisance.

Macs are the business. I DEFINATELY intend getting one during the summer. I bought an 80GB HDD for my Dell Laptop there not that long ago and I've had to re-install the OS about 5 times already. Since I bought this machine, I've had to re-install in total about 30 times! Not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because of the pressure I'm putting the P4 under. One of my mates has a 12" iBook, doing the same stuff as I am (more or less) and he's NEVER had to re-install or suffer the annoying 'mouse disappearing act' while the computer suffers quadruple cardiac arrest. GET A MAC! They're dead sexy lookin and fast. And like good German cars, they hold their value. Just try looking for an old iBook G4 on eBay to see what I mean!


PCs are dying... even if you get one cheap, put UNIX (or something like it) on it. I reccommend LinspireOS or RedHat.


diarmy

P.S. if anyone's selling their mac???? i'm mad to get one.

slán go fóill

RicardoSmith

PC software run under emulation on a Mac is extremely slow.

Sounds like you have a problem with the laptop or the harddisk. Having to reinstall the OS so many times is not normal. I have Mac's and PC's that haven't needed any maintance for years. Sounds likes theres a problem that you are not fixing. Since Macs use the same HD's and other hardware its a fault that could have happened just as easily on a Mac.

No offense but a Bad workman blames his tools etc...

30 times I mean come on...

Suaimhneach

I want it basically for writing assignments and the net. I said it has to be ethernet capable didnt I....Eh, yeah I think so.

Just the basics, nothing too fancy!

diarmy

Basically, if that's all you want it, buy a cheap second hand laptop off someone. There's loads around. Put MS Office on it and you're flying. If it's only for basic use, I don't see the point splashing out on a new laptop. GO PC for the moment. No point in buying a basic anything so just get a decent second hand one.

Just a thing Ricardo, the Dell Inspiron 4150 notebook isn't supposed to support 80GB HDD according to the lovely Dell people. So the fact that it's working at all is a testament to the fact that I do know what I'm talking about. Sorry if that's a bit ratty, but I'm not an idiot!


diarmy

RicardoSmith

Originally posted by diarmy
.....Just a thing Ricardo, the Dell Inspiron 4150 notebook isn't supposed to support 80GB HDD according to the lovely Dell people. So the fact that it's working at all is a testament to the fact that I do know what I'm talking about. Sorry if that's a bit ratty, but I'm not an idiot!

diarmy

That would depend if you would call needing to reinstall Windows 5 (or 30) times "working"

I'm not trying to pull your chain diarmy but your story didn't make sense.

Maybe the Dell people are right after all? Whats the point posting that Windows is dire if theres a basic problem with the hardware you are using. Obviously the current Dell bios doesn't support larger HD's. Its likely they'll release and updated bios in a while. 80gb HDs in laptop is only a recent development. Incidentally whats the model no. on that HD, and what price was it? I've a 60gb disk in my laptop and am using a USB2 80gb and 120gb external disks with it. Wouldn't mind a bigger and faster internal disk. Mines only a 4,200 drive whereas the externals are 3.5" drives and 7,200rpm. They are a lot faster.

Apple had a problem with their HDs corrupting data a while back, so I don't see how your problems (which are of your own making) make Apple Hardware better then PC hardware. Is your friend with the iBook sticking a 80gb disk in his? Apple has had a problem with the screens failing on iBooks recently and users were fighting to get apple to admit to the problem. Independent tests show that PC hardware, is generally faster than the Apple hardware and its cheaper. As a Mac owner and user I'm aware of what advantages the Apple hardware and software offer over a PC system, but speed isn't it.


Macs are nice machines, but lets not get carried away with all the advertising hype. If the software you need for you course is available on the Mac then its a viable option. If it isn't then the Mac isn't an option. End of story.

jank

did you check out my dell links as i said you will get mucg better value for money with a PC and you wont run into any software issues

Also you will have to think about the future its mush easier to scale up on a PC than a MAC

unless your doing mulitmedia related tasks buying a mac is not the way to go imo
yea it will look cool and all but when a new piece of software is released there will be a 90% chance it will be PC only

RicardoSmith

I reckon multimedia is as easy on a PC as Mac. I mean whats different?

I'd say 80% of major applications are available on both platforms. So it comes down to if you need anything in that 20%.

ZENER

It's annoying when a person uses one specific problem they've had with a product to totally write that product and manufacturer off as crap.

A lot of these "problems" are down to operator error simply because they are unfamiliar with it yet there is a reluctance to admit this. Saying that product A could not perform a simple task therefor all such products are sh**e is typical of someone who simply hasn't bothered to familiarise themselves with the device. Sorry Jank but I'm referring here to your claim that you could not get a mac to ping another machine.

With a few exceptions there is little difference between the three platforms available - Windows - Mac OS - Linux/Unix - when used for normal day to day computing. By day to day I mean :

Word processing
Spreadsheet
Internet Browsing
E-mail
Music Playback
Watching/ Making DVD's
Creating Data/Music CD's

If you use the analogy of a car = computer then you would not buy a Mini to drive off-road. If you require a specific piece of software available only on one platform then logically that's the platform you should plumb for, there is no point trying to convince someone that product A will be able to do everything product B can do when obviously it can't and probably never will.

Also you will have to think about the future its mush easier to scale up on a PC than a MAC

I can see your point put it's not really something you associate with laptops.

The hardware performance thing will go nowhere fast, they are different architectures - RISC v CISC - with different priorities so direct speed comparisons are meaningless and only serve to confuse.

Although there is a point to be made here with regards to battery life. Fast GHz CPU's use more power resulting in poor battery performance, Intel introduced the "M" CPU to get around this and possibly to compete with the terrific battery life iBooks and Power Books achieve because of their "slower" processor.

Before buying anything list your requirements for the desired device and choose on the basis of which device satisfies the majority of your requirements, not on how cool it looks or how cool you will look carrying it.

ZENER

RicardoSmith

You can buy PC laptops that last any from 1 to 5 hours on a battery. Which is pretty much the same as an Apple latop. So theres little to choose between them on that score. My own latop lasts 1 hour, but its a desktop replacment meant to be used on AC power most of the time. Which is exactly how I use it. But its a lot more powerful than a laptop with a 4 hour battery life.

jank

I never said mac's were **** zener, im only stating that i had trouble using that function (ping) on an ibook.

There is a application on it that was supposed to do this for mw but when i tried to execute it i got the usual some error about re-installing the OS

The utility im on about is "terminal.app"
Im very fimiliar with mac's in fact they are the one of the first computers i leanred to use after the C64 and the amiga 1200 (awww the good old days)

Anyway i just couldnt believe that these so called system utilites wouldnt run on my mac because of some OS error!?

I got it sorted though but my point is in my experience with a mac there is a long way around everything even the most trivial task!
Even the sales rep for apple down in cork here (done business with him for years) says that the longer you use mac's the greater the thought in the back of your mind to switch over to PC becuase of all the "small" problems one will encounter on a week to week basis

To give you an example try to netwrok up 6 mac's from OS's going from the old perfoma's to to OS 8.2(ish) then try and install the printer drivers on each of the machines(kinda sucks when the printer spec says OS 7.5 or higher)

it may be trivial but man such a long winded way of getting it working.
OK im after going of topic here,
Mac are good, there great if you only want to do simple stuff but beware cause it might end up tying you down and wishing you bought a PC in the long run and with a mac what you see is what you get and it is VERY hard to upgarde imo because of the number of differnet models out there and the expensice spare parts!
Dont even get me started on why apple have different modles in the US market than the here!

RicardoSmith

Most of the Mac parts like RAM and Hard disks are the same ones as on a PC? The only thing thats different would be the CPU and the GFX card. But if you buy parts from Apple then yeah they are expensive. The're not upgradeable on a Laptop anyway.

I don't get your point about the OS 7.5 printer driver? I also don't see what it has to do about this thread?

jank

what it has to do with this thread is, that if you have many MAC's of different OS's networked up togethor then your problems are only starting................

Also many manufactuers dont make drivers for MAC's if for the few that do you have to have the latest OS otherwise your ****ed!!
Im talking about experience here

RicardoSmith

I've never had any problems networking a mix of Mac OS'es in a mixed Windows/Mac network. When I worked in MS they had a Macs networked across the globe with NT servers. So what problems are you talking about. What has any of that got to do with a printer driver problem? Or with a Student using one for college assignments?

As far as I can see its no different than not having Windows XP's drivers or Windows 98 drivers for the associated hardware.

ZENER

This thread has turned in to an advocacy thing which I doubt was the intention to begin with.

Jank I'm not claiing the Mac is the be all and end all of computers, In my opinion the Amiga 4000 was that but then I woke up !!

I take your point about the printer drivers but If you were to take a range of Windows boxes from 3 up to XP and try a similar project do you think it would be smooth sailing ?? I doubt it somehow ! In fairness the original Mac OS was not great at integrating into a Windows network but imo OS X has more than made up for that shortcoming.

I all the time I've used a Mac (perhaps 18 years) I have never seen a system error telling me to re-install the OS !

We could go on forever here and I really think maybe we should start a new thread to slug it out so to speak.

ZENER

eth0_

Sorry I didn't see this thread sooner, the guy wanted a suggestion of an APPLE laptop, if he wants a mac, why are people trying to push him towards a pc?

Slug it out on another thread, i'm closing this one.

For the record, I got my powerbook a year ago and i've only ever had one problem with it and that was an intermittant clicking from t he speakers but has now been cleared up. I'd never go back to using a PC full time. I can do much, much more on a mac and the fact osx is based on unix makes it more configurable than a wintel machine. As for upgrading...it's not that easy to do on macs because of their design, but come on, what would you be upgrading on a powerbook/ibook other than ram/hard disc and they're easy to replace!

Thread locked.